Cozy Mystery Author
Hillary Avis
THE CLUCKS AND CLUES COZY MYSTERIES
A Hollywood housewife turned homesteader digs up small-town secrets and cracks more than eggshells in this clever, irreverent series.
A Cop and a Coop (Book 1)
It's a mother-clucking murder!
When Leona Davis hatches a plan to return to her beloved hometown of Honeytree, Oregon, she hopes to build the egg farm of her dreams and leave behind the marriage of her nightmares.
But the yolk’s on her when she breaks ground on her chicken palace and unearths a skeleton in her front yard. It’s clearly fowl play. The bones may be decades old, but there’s no statute of limitations on murder.
With a county forensics team roosting on her lawn and a flock of town gossips poking their beaks where they don’t belong, Leona’s well-laid farming plans may be nothing more than a wing and a prayer.
Her spicy high school ex, Sheriff Eli Ramirez, assures Leona he’ll crack the case, but he’s not exactly a hardboiled detective. Her best hope to get back to a life with more hens and less mens? Scramble to uncover her small town’s buried secrets before everything’s totally plucked.
A Flock and a Fluke (Book 2)
The plot chickens...
It’s springtime in Honeytree, and Leona’s pullets are finally laying. Customers are flocking to buy her farm-fresh eggs.
But during the town’s Easter Egg Scramble, Leona finds more than hidden treasure when she stumbles on the dead body of the pastor’s wife. And the death isn’t a fluke—it was poison.
After Leona’s eggs are blamed for delivering the fatal dose, her customers fly the coop along with her reputation. With her nest egg dwindling, she doesn’t have time to brood. Her only hope to rise back to the top of the pecking order? Figure out who held a grudge against Honeytree’s golden girl—and why.
But things get tricky. Her two leading suspects also happen to be running for mayor. And neither one of them is crowing when Leona fowls up their campaigns with her clucking around.
Can Leona take the heat of small-town politics? Or will she be forced out of the frying pan with egg on her face?
A Roost and Arrest (Book 3)
Farmed and dangerous...
Leona’s spirits are flying as high as the flags over Honeytree’s Fourth of July Festival. Her fledgling egg business is booming, her new relationship is flourishing, and it’s finally warm enough to put the top down on her convertible. Everything is sunny-side up.
But her good mood disappears faster than a speeding pullet when the local beauty queen is shot during the fireworks finale—and the murder is pinned on one of her close friends.
Now Leona must work around the cluck to find the real killer before her friend is cooped up permanently in the state pen.
Born in a Barn (Book 4)
Last one to solve it is a rotten egg...
It’s Christmas in Honeytree. Leona’s homestead is dusted with snow, her beloved grandchildren are visiting, and her connection with Sheriff Eli Ramirez is sweeter than a cup of hot cocoa.
But when her Grinchy ex-husband shows up on her front porch, all the holiday cheer flies the coop. He’s not just there to ruin her new life. Worse, he wants her back. And he’s counting on a little Christmas magic to help him do it.
Eager to put coal in his stocking, Leona arranges a visit with Santa. But when Old Saint Nick pegs her ex for the naughty list, it more than ruffles his feathers. And when Santa is found “sleighed” after their frosty fistfight, her ex becomes the prime suspect in the killing.
Now Eli’s not just competing against him for Leona’s heart. He’s also investigating him for murder. And Leona’s unwelcome guest is extending his stay—unless she can uncover the truth of what happened there under the mistletoe and send him packing to jail…or at the very least, back to LA.
Can Leona and Eli crack the case in time for Christmas? Or will their holiday goose be cooked?
Pecks and Suspects (Book 5)
Which came first, the killer or the egg?
Wedding bells are ringing at Lucky Cluck Farm! Sheriff Eli Ramirez's beloved niece is marrying a hometown hero, but she’s a bride on a budget. Leona offers her chicken farm as the perfect (and free!) springtime venue. The homestead might need a little cleanup before it can host the ceremony and barn dance, but many hands make light work, and the sprawling Ramirez clan certainly has hands to spare.
But there’s a hitch in the wedding plans. A bridesmaid takes a nosedive off the roof at the bachelorette party. And it wasn’t an accident—she was pushed.
What’s worse? When Eli’s kicked off the case due to conflict of interest, the new sheriff in town zeroes in on the bride and groom as the prime suspects in the killing. He thinks they made a murder pact—‘til death do they part.
Now Leona and Eli must untangle the mystery so the happy couple can finally tie the knot under the apple blossoms. But the killer has a bouquet of other plans…
A Farm and Alarm (Book 6)
The scream of the crop...
Harvest time in Honeytree is the sweetest season. Leona is up to her elbows in eggs and apples at Lucky Cluck Farm. Not only is her fresh cider business ripening, it’s a rare week that she doesn’t sell out of eggs at the farmer’s market, thanks to her long list of regulars.
But when a dead body crops up during a routine delivery at the pumpkin patch, Leona can’t help wondering why the murdered man has a carton of her Grade-As in his possession.
The new sheriff in town is wondering, too, which doesn’t squash local rumors that Leona herself had something to do with the killing.
To gourd her own innocence—and protect her loyal customers from undue suspicion—Leona must navigate a corn maze of clues to solve the crime. But can she carve out a solution before the killer reaps another victim?
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